Sydney University Athletics Club member Sarah Clifton-Bligh will join her club mate Angela Ballard in the Australian Paralympic team for the Paris Games.
Clifton-Bligh was one of 24 athletes named yesterday to join the Australian team. She’ll be competing in the F32 shot put.
SUAC legend Ballard and canoeing gold medalist Curtis McGrath have been given the honour of being named co-captains of the Australian Paralympic team for the Games.
One of Australia’s most decorated and admired para-athletes, Ballard will be attending a record seventh Paralympic Games. She has just competed at her ninth consecutive World Para Athletics Championships, also held in Paris.
Ballard has also competed at four Commonwealth Games and won the T53/54 1500m at the 2014 Games in Glasgow. She has competed in wheelchair events from 100m through to 1500m and won medals of all colours internationally.
Ballard was the 2017 SUAC Athlete of the Year, alongside Nick Hough. She’s generous in giving back to wheelchair sports, serving as an ambassador of several organisations.
She is also a Sydney University Sport and Fitness Elite Athlete Program Alumna with a Bachelor of Science (Psychology), awarded in 2009, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours), awarded in 2013, both from the University of Sydney.
Ballard said she would draw on her experience over 25 years as an elite-level wheelchair racer when she captains the team in Paris.
“Leadership is looking after that 16-year-old who started a long time ago,” she told Paralympics Australia’s David Sygall, reflecting on her debut representing Australia at the 1998 World Para-athletics Championships. “It’s not always easy to speak up and the Paralympics has been a big part of me finding a voice, so I feel obligated, in a good way, to speak up whenever I can.”
Clifton-Bligh’s build-up to the Paralympic team included the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, where she finished 5th in her 800m T34 heat, 5th in the 100m T34 and 7th in the shot put. She was also in the Australian team at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris where the team finished with three gold, eight silver and three bronze medals. Clifton-Bligh made her senior Australian debut at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games while still a teenager.
Born and raised in Sydney, Clifton-Bligh’s sporting career began when she showed signs of natural talent at the Year 5 school athletics carnival, particularly in the 100m track, shot put, and discuss events. After demonstrating promising ability, she was lent a proper athletics wheelchair, which was actually once also borrowed by Paralympians Kurt Fearnely and Angie Ballard. This initial brush with fame was almost an omen of things to come and a few years later she was selected in the NSW Junior Wheelchair development squad. And she’s now realised her Paralympic dream.
Australian team Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin welcomed the new members of the Australian Paralympic Team. “Athletics is absolutely crucial to every Australian Paralympic campaign, so it’s a great pleasure to welcome these 24 athletes to our team for the Paris Games,” McLoughlin said.
“There are competitors in this group who have tasted the excitement of Paralympic competition and felt the sense of achievement of winning a medal or reaching their personal goals. Others will be experiencing the Paralympic Games for the first time.
“Whether it’s your seventh Games, like our amazing co-captain Angie Ballard, or your very first, the pride and expectation that comes with representing Australia is something I know all the athletes we’ve named today will rise to and treasure. We can’t wait to see you in action in Paris.”
